General manager Stan Bowman was stunned like most after watching the Blackhawks get swept out of the playoffs in the first round last season.

Bowman thought he had assembled a team capable of pushing for a Stanley Cup. When it didn’t, as he said after the season, the Blackhawks needed to “look in the mirror and find a way to be better.”

Bowman took his time to assess what went wrong and how the Blackhawks could find ways to get better. In the offseason, he went to work. Bowman reconfigured the team through trades, signings, the expansion draft and not bringing back certain players.

When he was done, the Blackhawks were undoubtedly a different team from the one that skated off the ice at season’s end. The answer to whether they were a better team would have to wait.

Now that the Blackhawks are halfway through the 2017-18 season, let’s examine Bowman’s moves and assess how they’ve fared so far.

Traded Artemi Panarin and Tyler...

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